Please ID!!
- Thread starter Momof4
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It looks very much like a gopher snake to me.
not poisonous.
You have a nice little night snake, Hypsiglena toquata. They are harmless. You can read about them here. http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/h.o.klauberi.html
Please ignore the info on them being mildly venomous, they are TOTALLY HARMLESS. They are incapable of biting you and nobody has ever been hurt by one. The venom is dangerous only to their tiny prey.
Please ignore the info on them being mildly venomous, they are TOTALLY HARMLESS. They are incapable of biting you and nobody has ever been hurt by one. The venom is dangerous only to their tiny prey.
Get yourself a book about rattlesnakes, and learn how to identify them.If you live in snake country, you owe it to yourself, and your family.
Usually, in the US, non-venomous snakes have a round pupil. Venomous snakes have an elliptical pupil (coral snakes are an exception).
That's the quick reference that I use if I am trying to make an on-site determination.
That's the quick reference that I use if I am trying to make an on-site determination.
i picture of the tail would be better.. but it looked like neither one.. i guess I was right!
The pattern on that snake looks extremely similar to a snake I used to own, a Western Hognose Snake:
When I got mine as a baby she was 5 inches. Western Hognose's are rear fanged venomous-used more for pray then defense
If you are thinking rattler because of a sound it made - they mock rattle snakes as a defense---before rolling over to play dead:
amusing little snakes they are....
When I got mine as a baby she was 5 inches. Western Hognose's are rear fanged venomous-used more for pray then defense
If you are thinking rattler because of a sound it made - they mock rattle snakes as a defense---before rolling over to play dead:
amusing little snakes they are....
When I had a tiny baby rattler in my yard his head was very diamond shaped.
Looks like a bull maybe a gopher snake.
But until your absolutely sure, treat it like a viper.
If it is a bull, this is something you want in your yard, they hunt and eat rattlers.
I tried to upload a pic but it failed, just search bull snake and there are a ton of good images on google.
But until your absolutely sure, treat it like a viper.
If it is a bull, this is something you want in your yard, they hunt and eat rattlers.
I tried to upload a pic but it failed, just search bull snake and there are a ton of good images on google.
Maixx said:
Just for clarification...
- Bullsnakes, gopher snakes, and pine snakes are the same species (Pituophis catenefer) with regional coloration and names. They keep changing their mind about how they are related. Currently, the Gopher is the main species, bull is a subspecies, and pine, if I understand things correctly, is a regional variation. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullsnake)
- Neither bullsnakes nor gopher snakes eat rattlers. I believe you are thinking of the Kingsnake (Lampropeltis species). One of the coolest kingsnakes is the California kingsnake (L. getula californiae). Kingsnakes eat other snakes primarily- although they do not especially seek out rattlers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lampropeltis_getula_californiae )
As a long-time field herpper and nature center volunteer, I know how easy it is to get this sort of thing mixed up, so I hope this helps!
Madkins007 said:
Very cool.
Sorry for passing bad info about them eating rattlers, I had read something (don't remember where) about people killing these because they resembled rattlers, and that they actually control rattled populations in areas. The quote I remember most was "if you have bull snakes in your yard you shouldn't have rattlers"
I knew there are types of snakes that eat other snakes, mainly Kings, but also drymarchon. So it didn't sound too unusual that gophers might also eat other snakes (rattlers).
I'd be careful about relying on Wikipedia too heavily. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pituophis (contradictory info)
They had a picture of an Aldabran labelled as a Galap for more than 2 years (until I changed it).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoise
...and even unto this very day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galápagos_tortoise has an Aldabran as its poster child...
They had a picture of an Aldabran labelled as a Galap for more than 2 years (until I changed it).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoise
...and even unto this very day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galápagos_tortoise has an Aldabran as its poster child...
Gotta agree with Art on that one. Colleges won't even accept wikipedia as a source.
Maixx said:
One reason you rarely have both bulls and rattlers in a given area is that both compete for the same food and shelters. Around here, you rarely find both close to each other where the ranges overlap, but I have- just a couple of times- found both under the same piece of debris.
Wikipedia- if I was aiming for a more high-falutin' answer, I would have gone to a dozen other sites, but Wikipedia, with all of its faults, is a nice introduction to most kinds of information.
As for contradictory info on the bull/gopher/pine snake? This is a mix of species, subspecies, and variations that no two herpetologists seem to completely agree about- at least, not for very long. Some resources I have seen just refer to it as the 'Pine/Gopher Complex'- and all the Midwest herpetologists hate that since it does not reference the Bullsnake.
I also have to point out the detail that since you changed the photo info, you were doing just what Wikipedia was designed to do- which is one of its strengths. After all, you cannot so readily 'correct' or edit a book already in circulation, or even most websites that have errors.
B
byerssusan
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Momof4 said:I'm freaking out! Is this a gopher or rattle. I live in San Diego. He's 6". So tiny.
It's definitely NOT a rattle snake. I could tell right away from the shae of it's head. If it were a rattle snake it's head woulod not be that shape. There heads are shaped differently than their bodies. With this snake the head sort of goes straight with the body
Hers a pic to compare
Kathy: For future reference, a couple easy ways to ID a rattler just by looking. Rattlesnakes have a very broad, diamond-shaped head--that alone is a VERY useful tool to telling the difference between Rattlesnakes and their mimics. As you saw with the snake you caught (definitely not a rattler), the head is slender, more "oval" shaped. Rattlesnakes have keeled (rough) scales--a less reliable identification tool, but, combined with other factors, can be very useful in helping positively ID a rattler vs one of its mimics. Rattlers are overall very fat, stocky snakes, where something like a Gopher is longer, more slender. Then, of course, there's the obligatory rattle... Not a very useful tool with tiny babies, since they haven't developed a rattle yet, but a dead give-away for older rattlers.
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